Donna Karan

Donna Karan

Donna Karan (born October 2, 1948), also known under the alias "DK", is an American fashion designer and the creator of the Donna Karan New York and DKNY clothing labels.

Career

Karan began her career as an assistant designer with Anne Klein in the late 1960s, where she was eventually promoted to associate designer in 1971. As Klein's assistant, Karan was a participant in The Battle of Versailles Fashion Show on November 28, 1973. When Anne Klein herself died in 1974, Takihyo Corporation of Japan became the new owner and Karan, together with her former classmate and friend Louis Dell'Ollio, became head designer of the house. In 1984, Karan left Anne Klein and, together with her then husband Stephan Weiss and Takihyo Corporation, started her own business "to design modern clothes for modern people". She showed her first women's clothing collection in 1985.

Karan became well known for her 'Essentials' line, initially offering seven easy pieces which could all be mixed and matched, and created a fully integrated wardrobe. Karan always insisted that she would only design clothes, like jersey dresses and opaque Lycra tights, that she would also wear herself.[citation needed]

In 1988, Karan, nicknamed The Queen Of Seventh Avenue, extended her women's 'Donna Karan New York' line by creating a less expensive clothing line for younger women, called DKNY. Two years later, she created DKNY Jeans, a denim-inspired collection. DKNY for men was launched in 1992, one year after the 'Signature' line for men had been presented.

Karan left her CEO position in 1997, but continued as chairwoman and designer for the Donna Karan line. After 2002 Karan's designer contributions became less and less. In August 2008, Karan relaunched her discontinued fragrance lines from the 1990s.
DKNY Spring 2012

In 2008, the animal rights group PETA initiated a campaign against Karan for her company's use of fur in products and her contracted fur farmers' alleged inhumane treatment of animals

Donna Karan As the role of women in the workforce began to change, with more and more women rising to the top of the career ladder in leadership or managerial roles, so too did their wardrobe. Karan was responsible for developing stylish staples for the everyday career woman, that were comfortable and gave off an aura of power--clothes that Karan, as a career woman and mother, would also want to wear.